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Celio, makers of the extension keyboard and screen for Windows Mobile devices, have gone soft with a desktop version of their hardware, for those really addicted to Windows Mobile.

The software, which is in public beta, runs applications on the mobile phone but puts the display onto a desktop PC, as well as ramping up the resolution to 1024x768, should you want to.

It's hard to convey how useful the RedFly, Celio's handset companion, can be in the right circumstances. If your work involves web browsing, e-mail and working with basic documents then you can dump the laptop. But it's more difficult to see the value in putting the same experience onto a Windows desktop computer.

There are a few apps that can replicate a Windows Mobile screen on a desktop, but they are generally aimed at demonstrations and/or application development rather than providing access to Windows Mobile applications though the keyboard, screen and mouse of a desktop computer.

Of course, if you've got a desktop computer handy then you might decide to use that for your light browsing, e-mail and document access, but there is value in the continuity of experience that Celio offers, even if the software isn't quite ready for prime time just yet. We tried it on a Samsung Omnia which, disappointingly, would only support 800x600, but everything worked well enough, even if the graphics are far from perfect as the screen shot shows.

But if you've a hankering to see what your phone applications look like on the big(ger) screen, or (more likely) are wondering just how usable a RedFly would be if you bought one, then it's worth signing up to the public beta to see. ®